Eruptions on the sun's surface are probably caused by giant, unstable magnetic plasma arches, a new study reports — a discovery that brings scientists one step closer to predicting solar outbursts that can wreak havoc on Earth.

Monday marks Columbus Day for people in the United States, but did you know there was a lunar twist to the famous explorer's journey? On Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus came ashore on an island northeast of Cuba, which he later named San Salvador (Holy Savio...

A European spacecraft flying alongside a comet in deep space finally has a place to land after a 10-year journey through the solar system. The European Space Agency on Monday unveiled the target landing site on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the...

The full Harvest Moon will light up the night sky on Monday (Sept. 8), and this year it comes with a an extra bounty. September's full moon will cap a trio of back-to-back "supermoons" for the Northern Hemisphere summer, according to NASA. The moon w...

The first 3D printer ever to fly in space will blast off this month, and NASA has high hopes for the innovative device's test runs on the International Space Station. The 3D printer, which is scheduled to launch toward the orbiting lab Sept. 19 aboar...

Armchair astronomers can enjoy a cosmic double play on Aug. 29, with back-to-back webcasts featuring faraway Neptune and a close-flying asteroid. The action starts at 8 p.m. EDT, when the online Slooh Community Observatory will air a live four-hour s...

A violent star explosion long ago has left behind an eye-catching supernova remnant, an ethereal grave marker in space that has been seen like never before by scientists using three space telescopes. When supersized stars reach the end of their lives...

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity may have to choose a new route to the base of a huge Red Planet mountain. The 1-ton Curiosity rover had been heading for Mount Sharp — a 3.4-mile-high mountain in the center of Mars' Gale Crater — via "Hidden Valley," a sa...

An asteroid on NASA's list of potential impact threats to the Earth is actually a pile of loosely connected rubble held together by forces weaker than the weight of a penny, scientists say. The discovery could be vital if humanity ever has to destroy...

Scott Kelly is seven months and 15 days from becoming the first NASA astronaut to spend a year in space. Well, maybe not a full year, at least based on the currently published schedules. Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail "Misha" Kornienko are slate...

A NASA spacecraft hurtling toward a 2015 rendezvous with Pluto has captured an amazing video of the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon. The New Horizons probe used its onboard telescope to record a video of Charon and Pluto locked in their orb...

NASA is already using 3D printing to make rocket engine parts, a space pizza maker and even physical photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. But by the end of September, one NASA engineer expects to complete the first space cameras made almost entire...

A 36-year-old NASA spacecraft began a new interplanetary science mission on Sunday when it made a close pass by the moon. The privately controlled International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft, also called ISEE-3, flew by the moon at approximately 2:...

NASA's next Mars rover could help humans get a foothold on the Red Planet. Most of the seven instruments for the six-wheeled robot, which is scheduled to launch toward Mars in 2020, are designed to help scientists identify and sample rocks that may h...

NASA wants to create a robotic gas station in space. While that might call to mind visions of interstellar starships, the unmanned depot won't actually be used to refuel rockets leading to the outer solar system or other worlds. Instead, it will serv...

It's really starting to look as if an "impossible" space propulsion technology actually works. Researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have found that a microwave thruster system that requires no propellant does indeed generate a small ...

Earth's powerful gravity tugged the moon into its oddball shape long ago, shortly after both bodies formed, a new study suggests. Tidal forces exerted during the early days of the solar system can explain most of the moon's large-scale topography, in...

Each summer, amateur astronomers from all over the world look forward to observing the famous Perseid meteor shower, but often overlook six lesser celestial fireworks displays that reach their peak between July 28 and Aug. 20.

"NASA is not currently considering a human return to the moon and remains focused on the asteroid-retrieval mission," James Clay Moltz, a professor in the department of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California,

Astronomers have discovered the largest and most luminous black hole ever seen — an ancient monster with a mass about 12 billion times that of the sun — that dates back to when the universe was less than 1 billion years old.

General Electric is taking a "small step" into sneaker design to commemorate the role -- or rather, sole -- it had in mankind's first "giant leap" on the moon. Forty-five years to the day, hour and minute after Apollo 11 moonwalkers Neil Armstrong an...

Mashable
is a leading global media company that informs, inspires and entertains the digital generation. Mashable is redefining storytelling by documenting and shaping the digital revolution in a new voice, new formats and cutting-edge technologies to a uniquely dedicated audience of 42 million monthly unique visitors and 24 million social followers.